Meticulous Records Are Key to Tax Deductions and Painless IRS Audits

• Read a real-life example of a case involving disallowed tax deductions.
• Learn about the importance of substantiating claimed tax deductions with records.

Do you operate a business or are you starting a new one? Then you know you need to keep records of your income and expenses. Specifically, you should carefully record your expenses in order to claim all of the tax deductions you may claim. And you want to make sure you can defend the amounts reported on your tax returns in case you’re ever audited by the IRS.

Be aware that there’s no one way to keep business records. But there are strict rules when it comes to keeping records and proving expenses are legitimate for tax purposes. Certain types of expenses, such as automobile, travel, meals and home office costs, require special attention because they’re subject to special recordkeeping requirements or limitations.

Fiducial offers two recent court cases to illustrate some of the issues.

Case 1: To claim tax deductions, an activity must be engaged in for profit

A business expense can be deducted if a taxpayer can establish that the primary objective of the activity is making a profit. The expense must also be substantiated and be an ordinary and necessary business expense. In one case, a taxpayer claimed tax deductions that created a loss, which she used to shelter other income from tax.

She engaged in various activities including acting in the entertainment industry and selling jewelry. The IRS found her activities weren’t engaged in for profit and it disallowed her tax deductions.

The taxpayer took her case to the U.S. Tax Court, where she found some success. The court found that she was engaged in the business of acting during the years in issue. However, she didn’t prove that all claimed expenses were ordinary and necessary business expenses. The court did allow tax deductions for expenses including headshots, casting agency fees, lessons to enhance the taxpayer’s acting skills and part of the compensation for a personal assistant. But the court disallowed other tax deductions because it found insufficient evidence “to firmly establish a connection” between the expenses and the business.

In addition, the court found that the taxpayer didn’t prove that she engaged in her jewelry sales activity for profit. She didn’t operate it in a businesslike manner, spend sufficient time on it or seek out expertise in the jewelry industry. Therefore, all tax deductions related to that activity were disallowed. (TC Memo 2021-107)

Case 2: A business must substantiate claimed tax deductions with records

A taxpayer worked as a contract emergency room doctor at a medical center. He also started a business to provide emergency room physicians overseas. On Schedule C of his tax return, he deducted expenses related to his home office, travel, driving, continuing education, cost of goods sold and interest. The IRS disallowed most of the tax deductions.

As evidence in Tax Court, the doctor showed charts listing his expenses. However, he didn’t provide receipts or other substantiation showing he had paid the expenses. He also failed to account for the portion of expenses attributable to personal activity.

The court disallowed the tax deductions stating that his charts weren’t enough and didn’t substantiate that the expenses were ordinary and necessary in his business. It noted that “even an otherwise deductible expense may be denied without sufficient substantiation.” The doctor also didn’t qualify to take home office tax deductions because he didn’t prove it was his principal place of business. (TC Memo 2022-1)

Fiducial can help

Need assistance retaining adequate business records? Taking a meticulous, proactive approach can protect your tax deductions and help make an audit much less difficult. Call Fiducial at 1-866-FIDUCIAL or make an appointment at one of our office locations to discuss your situation.

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